Russian Men Who Fled Mobilization Mocked in Ad: 'The Boys Have Left'

A Russian propaganda video is circulating on social media, mocking the men who fled the country to neighboring nations in order to avoid being conscripted as part of President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization decree.

The origin of the clip is unclear, but it has been shared by multiple Telegram channels. It attempts to portray the men who are staying in Russia as "men" and those who flee as "boys."

In the video, a wealthy Russian man says that he's escaping to neighboring Georgia, presumably to avoid conscription, and he's promptly mocked for doing so.

The man is shown wheeling along his baggage on a street in Russia, while two younger men look on.

One of the younger men says: "Nice outfit! Do you know who he is?"

"They rented a flat recently. He's a cool bloke. Works in a bank," the other responds.

The video then shows two women approach the man as he's loading his baggage into a car.

"Where are you going?" one asks, to which he responds: "To Georgia, for good."

It pans back to the two women who discuss how some men have been leaving the country in light of Putin's partial mobilization decree.

"That's another one who's leaving," one says, while the other woman notes that a few "boys" at her workplace have also left.

The man begins to get into the car, and as he does so, an elderly woman falls to the ground nearby, dropping oranges.

He glances at her for a moment but continues to get into the vehicle. Meanwhile, the two younger men rush to the elderly woman's help.

The women look on, and one says: "Yep. The boys have left but the men have stayed."

After Putin announced a "partial" military mobilization on September 21, hundreds of thousands of Russians fled the country to neighboring nations, including Georgia, Finland, Kazakstan and Mongolia.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia would be targeting 300,000 reservists and ex-military personnel with "certain military specialties and relevant experience." However, the figure in Putin's decree has not been disclosed to the public.

The Kremlin said on October 31 that the partial mobilization had ended. The ISW has assessed, however, that Russia is "covertly" mobilizing troops.

Meanwhile, the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine—one of the five branches of Ukraine's armed forces—has said that a new wave of mobilization in Russia is expected in February 2023. The Kremlin has so far denied plans for another phase of mobilization.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.

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